Or are you still wondering what the crawling hand was? If so, don’t worry, because I’ll tell you in the next chapter. I wasn’t going to tell ANYONE, but the old man who types these books out for me said you might have nightmares, and I don’t want that! In fact, you can read the next chapter now, if you want to. It’s only a little shortie.
The Little Shortie Chapter
After Gwendoline ran off screaming, we were all left standing by the door, feeling completely freaked out. Even Mrs. Twelvetrees looked a bit unstable.
Just then the lights came on in the hall, and Motley came around the corner, carrying his bucket.
“Is everything all right?” asked Motley. “I heard some shouting in the coatroom, so I went to take a look.”
“Thank you, Mr. Motley,” said Mrs. Twelvetrees. “Tell us, did you happen to see a crawling hand?”
“No,” said Motley. “I’m sure I’d remember if I had.”
“Just as I thought,” said Mrs. Twelvetrees, and then she spoke to us all. “Gwendoline has been playing another one of her little jokes. There are NO ghosts, so off you go, girls. See you all tomorrow!”
But we knew Gwendoline hadn’t been joking. Her jokes always involved upsetting other people, not herself!
Motley held the door open for us to leave. I wondered if it had been one of HIS hands crawling around, but they both seemed to be fixed onto his arms pretty solidly, so it couldn’t have been that.
But then as I walked past, I looked into his red bucket. There was a grumpy little face looking back up at me, chewing on a Fishpopz.
“I see you’ve got Tony back,” I said.
“Yes, I’d left him in one of the sinks so he could have a swim,” said Motley.
Good grief! Tony was about the same size as a hand, and his little legs and his head could have looked like stumpy fingers . . . and he’d been eating Fishpopz!
“So what do you think that hand was all about?” asked Motley.
“No idea,” I said. “No idea at all.” And I didn’t tell ANYBODY!
(Well, apart from you, of course. Oh, and I had to tell Ellie because I didn’t want her to be frightened anymore, and I told Martha because I wanted to make up for my stupid mask idea. And I told Ivy because if she found out I knew and hadn’t told her, she’d tickle me to death—OW OOOH HA HA NO STOPPIT—and I told Bianca because if I hadn’t told her, Ivy would have told her, but aside from that, I did not tell anybody, ESPECIALLY NOT GWENDOLINE.)
The Last DONG!
When I got home, it was quite late. James and Tilly were already in bed, and Mom was taking a long bath. Dad asked if we’d seen the ghost again, but I was keeping quiet about Motley, so I said no. Then he asked if I wanted a snack.
“Don’t tell your mom,” he whispered. “Look what I got!”
It was a HUGE pink box with a picture of an alien on the front with two heads and long octopus arms sticking out.
“It’s Space Munch!” he said.
“From Spendless?” I asked.
Dad nodded. “Special sale.”
“No way,” I said.
“Oh, come on,” said Dad. “It can’t be as bad as that last stuff.”
But sure enough, he tried a bit, and chewed it and chewed it.
“I give up,” said Dad. “Maybe Mr. Motley wants it?”
Hmm. I looked at the picture on the box and tried to imagine Motley with two heads and octopus arms. Not pretty.
“I don’t think we’ll risk it!” I said.
So up I went to bed, and that was the end of that. I must have gone straight to sleep, because before I knew it, there was a great big . . .
DONG!
I’d forgotten. A man had come to fix the school clock that afternoon, and he’d brought his own ladder!
DONG!
Everything else was completely quiet, so I guessed it was midnight.
DONG!
I had to laugh because I knew Bianca, Martha, Ivy, and Ellie would all be lying awake listening and counting too!
DONG!
The bell was ringing perfectly. It made me feel a little sad, actually.
DONG!
It had been quite nice to think there was a ghost in the old school.
DONG!
After all, it didn’t hurt anybody, and we’d all had a good laugh!
DONG!
That was the seventh DONG, and it wasn’t very exciting.
DONG!
I knew exactly when the next DONG would come, and it was now . . .
DONG!
See? Where’s the fun in that? Sorry, old clock, you’ve become boring.
DONG!
That was number ten. YAWN! Just two more to go, then that’s the end of the story.
DONG!
Thanks for reading about our ghost. I hope it didn’t scare you, but if it did, don’t worry! We’re just about to finish with one last . . .
DONG!
There, that was it. There is no more. Good night, GOODBYEEEE, and have sweet dreams because this is
THE END.
DONG!
. . . Or is it?
WOOOO!
Motley’s Magic Bucket Trick
(Wahoo! We love it.)
How can you have a bucket of water upside down over your head and not get wet?
This is really freaky, because the bucket doesn’t have a lid on it or anything like that! Motley showed me this with his big red bucket, but if you have a small plastic bucket, you can try it yourself.
Put a little bit of water in the bucket, then hold it by the handle.
Start to swing the bucket back and forth, with bigger and bigger swings.
Warning: You have to DO THIS OUTSIDE with lots of space around you; otherwise, you might whack the TV or your mom or your dog or something.
When you’re feeling brave, give it a great BIG swing so it goes right around upside down over the top of your head. If you do it fast enough, the water stays inside!
Here’s the good part. One time James was doing this trick, and he wanted me to take a photo! I got the camera ready, then when the bucket was going over his head, I told him to hold it a second while I pushed the button. So he stopped the bucket, and the water all fell out—SPLOOSH. It was the best photo I ever took—HA HA, awesome! The only time James was more embarrassed was when he got an email full of kisses from a mystery girl . . . but we’ve run out of pages now, so I’ll tell you about that in another book. And that’s a definite promise! xo
Visit www.hmhco.com or your favorite retailer to order the book.
MiddleGradeMania.com
About the Author
KJARTAN POSKITT lives in Yorkshire, England, just down the street from the real Odd Street School! He has written about eighty children’s books and is also a children’s television presenter and musician.
You can find out more at www.kjartan.co.uk
About the Illustrator
WES HARGIS is the New York Times best-selling illustrator of several picture books, including When I Grow Up by Al Yankovic. He lives in Safford, Arizona.
Find out more about Wes at www.weshargis.com
Agatha Parrot and the Odd Street School Ghost Page 5